Nonetheless, Manchin’s symbolic gesture comes as the West Virginia Democrat has sought to advance legislation in the coming months that would ease permit requirements to make it easier to build pipelines and energy infrastructure projects. own such as transmission lines which can take up to a decade. to be built due to heavy environmental regulations.
Manchin secured a commitment from Democratic leaders on the legislation in a deal that has revived the climate of the party line reconciliation invoice Last week.
Republicans had warned ahead of the vote that they were unlikely to work with Manchin on authorization unless he voted for their ARC resolution.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), the resolution’s primary sponsor, told POLITICO earlier this week that “it would be a lack of seriousness if my resolution were defeated by a party vote.”
Biden is expected to unveil a second, broader rule making additional changes to NEPA early this year.
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